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A confidential source has disclosed an official investigation that British authorities failed to secure classified technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to identify Afghans who collaborated with western forces.

Information Leak Endangers Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, known as Person A, testified that people concerned by the data leak were instructed to move homes and switch their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are investigating the UK government's handling of a catastrophic leak of confidential data involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who had requested to come to the UK to flee the regime.

How the Leak Was Discovered

An electronic document with private information, including identities, contact details and sometimes family information, was mistakenly released by a staff member stationed at British military command in February 2022.

The leak was discovered months later, when identities of several individuals who had sought to relocate to the UK surfaced on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

“There seems to be a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers do not have similar capabilities that we have,” she told the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire your phone number, they can trace your exact position. That's precisely what specialized teams did.”

Under inquiry about whether the Taliban owned necessary encryption, Person A declared: “They possess all resources.”

Impact of the Information Leak

Early investigations submitted to the committee indicated that at least 49 family members and co-workers of individuals impacted by the breach had been murdered.

A superinjunction concerning the breach was put in force in last year and blocked relevant facts about it from being made public until July 2025.

Security Recommendations

Because she was restricted, the whistleblower and the aid group she was working with advised affected households they were working with that they had “suspicions that mobile communications had been breached”.

“We recommended that they relocate if they could and changed their phone numbers. That constituted the crucial data that, should militant forces had access to this information, would result in them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

Person A disputed that internal investigation performed by a former official had been mistaken to state that the acquisition of the information by the regime was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are in hiding from militant forces; they live secretly. The primary issue involves their previous employment.”

She detailed terrible treatment endured by at-risk Afghans, including electrocution, waterboarding, and severe beatings.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get relatives to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.